Columns

Enjoy a run-down of our recent long-form pieces, both game-specific and more general. You might also be interested in our list of all of our columns and recurring articles. [Follow this category’s RSS feed]

Desert Oasis: Hunting for the best grindspots in Black Desert

4
Of all things, the one thing about Black Desert that everyone can agree on is that there's a grind. Players who choose this game...
Wow, positive.

Perfect Ten: The many modes of social experience in MMOs

7
There are two statements frequently made with regard to MMOs that seem like linked clauses, but they're not. "MMOs are social games" is a...

Tamriel Infinium: The Elder Scrolls Online’s economy needs a casual friendly option

44
A few years ago, I was introduced to the concept of trading guilds. Trading guilds are unique to the The Elder Scrolls Online as...

Choose My Adventure: A stronger, straighter start in Legends of Aria

2
What a difference a few weeks make. This past spring when I last toured Legends of Aria for Choose My Adventure, things were a little...

Working As Intended: What it means to be an MMORPG

78
I am amused and somewhat bewildered to admit that I have my very own pet troll. He follows me around on Reddit to hassle...

EverQuesting: Live in EverQuest II’s Baubleshire and Oakmyst Forest again – for a fee

16
What the what?!? How did I miss this?! I just went to browse the new things in EverQuest II's marketplace (honestly, I wanted to...
Why Would You Do That Dot Jpeg

Wisdom of Nym: Predicting the next Final Fantasy XIV jobs far too stupidly early

13
So now's a good time to start predicting the jobs we'll be getting in the next Final Fantasy XIV expansion, right? It seems like a...

Fight or Kite: Crowfall’s new Infected content is the best thing added to the pre-alpha

6
This past week has been the best week I’ve had in Crowfall all year. First, ArtCraft dropped a weekend-long event that really turned heads,...
All right!

Jukebox Heroes: The best of Dragon’s Quest X’s soundtrack

1
While just about everyone knows about Square Enix's ashes-to-glory story with Final Fantasy XIV, what often goes unnoticed is that the company runs a...

One Shots: Familiar and welcome lands

24
Welcome back home! That feels like the sentiment that WoW Classic gave when it launched recently. Players absolutely swarmed to these servers, many of...
Da-boo-di.

The Daily Grind: What MMO would look the best with a cel-shaded style?

15
I'm not really over Peria Chronicles, but one of the things that attracted my interest to the game was the loveliness of its cel-shaded graphics...
Not this.

The Game Archaeologist: Is it worth the hassle to update graphics in older MMOs?

33
"I'd play this game again if the graphics were updated." "If they re-released this game with modern graphics, it would be way more popular." "The Game...
My authority as principal is total.

Betawatch: Camelot Unchained is no longer stuck on your character

0
Don't you hate when you're just walking along and find out you've got some other character stuck to you? No, probably not, for much...

The Soapbox: There is no MMO that can fix a broken MMO community

89
We've heard again and again how the recently launched World of Warcraft: Classic was going to "fix" the MMO community by stripping away modern...
The stars are over Dun Morogh.

WoW (Classic) Factor: The journal of Nieve Vinther – second entry

3
It has now been the better part of a week since my unexpected sojourn into the path, and for most of that week my...

First impressions of WoW Classic – from a total World of Warcraft newbie

47
The gaming world is abuzz with excitement over World of Warcraft Classic. Players around the world are gushing with nostalgia over this trip back...
You won't believe the things I didn't bother telling you!

Vague Patch Notes: How MMO studio communication and player confidence really work

3
Here's the funny thing about communication from MMO studios: It's vital to the continued feeling of a healthy game, and yet at the same...
And if I press it enough time, sometimes there's a story!

The Daily Grind: Have queues ever turned you off from an MMO?

19
Queues bother me. I'd like to say they don't, but they really do. I don't take them as a personal affront or anything, though;...

Warframe of Mind: Where to look to find the lore in Warframe

4
When I mention the lore in Warframe, the response I usually get is "There's lore in Warframe?!?" I've even gotten this from some who...

Perfect Ten: MMORPGs made by tiny teams

3
I don't really have to tell you this, but creating an MMORPG is a huge undertaking. These are some of the most complex games...

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